YOKOTA AIR BASE, Japan — The 374th Airlift Wing, the oldest in the Pacific theater, is about to get a new commander.

Col. Mark Schissler will turn over his leadership post to Col. Scott P. Goodwin during a change-of-command ceremony tentatively set for June 1. The time and place has not yet been announced.

Goodwin arrives at Yokota from Little Rock Air Force Base, Ark., where he served as the 463rd Airlift Group commander — a job Schissler held before becoming the 374th Airlift Wing’s chief in July 2003.

Schissler, a master navigator with more than 3,400 flying hours in the C-130, is scheduled to conduct his “finiflight” May 31. Following the command change, he’ll head to the Pentagon and become the assistant deputy director for international negotiations, multilateral affairs and plans and programs for the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

During his stay at Yokota, Schissler has been a staunch proponent of building U.S.-Japan relations through community interaction. He’s also viewed by some as a strong disciplinarian.

He recently imposed a 1 a.m. to 6 a.m. restriction for the off-base area called “Bar Row” following a string of incidents involving airmen. The entertainment district in nearby Fussa City is a popular hangout for U.S. servicemembers.

Schissler was commissioned through Officer Training School in 1981 after graduating [ITALICS]cum laude[/ITALICS] with a bachelor’s degree in liberal arts from the University of St. Thomas in Houston.

The two-year Yokota stint was his first as a permanent base commander. In 2002, he was an expeditionary wing commander in Oman during Operation Enduring Freedom.